“I never yet saw a patient that did not cry out for cold water; and the confirmed dram-drinker can, with difficulty, be persuaded to taste his favourite beverage; he objects more to brandy or punch than the temperate do; this I have often remarked. I have seen a patient travel for miles on an open car, through sleet and rain, without any covering, and drinking cold water on the way, and remarked that he did better than when treated with brandy, hot tins, &c. In fact, I often saw such patients beg to be allowed out again, they used to call loudly for cold water. ‘For the love and honour of God, sir, get us a drink of cold water,’ was no unfrequent request amongst them, and that pronounced with an earnestness of manner most truly impressive; but, alas! in 1832, this appeal was always refused, though in 1849 a step has been taken in a right direction, and it is allowed, according to the Sisters of Mercy, ‘in small quantities.’” The truth will ere long be acknowledged, that it is our mode of life that makes us fit subjects for cholera, and that it is our mode of treating it alone, which makes the disease so dangerous. The wretch who is cast uncared for in a ditch, exposed to all the inclemency of the weather, with water alone to quench his burning thirst, has ten chances to one in favour of his recovery, compared with the well-cared patient who is dosed with brandy and the favourite specifics of the apothecary’s shop. If we look at cholera, and divest our minds of its accustomed mode of treatment, we will find that every symptom of the disease points to the presence of some highly irritant poison in the blood; and in the effort to expel this poison, the serum which contains it, is drained from the system. What, therefore, can be more rational than to supply the system with the materials of restoration, by giving water in large quantities, and to stimulate its chemical combinations by which the caloric of the system shall be restored, by the influence of fresh air, water drinking, and cold bathing. Sir Bulwer Lytton thus sums up his impressions of Hydropathy:—